This tuition covers all required retreats, teachings, and meetings. Cycles students receive a 30% discount on additional programs at Dawn Mountain during the year, such as retreats and teachings with Lama Tenzin Samphel. (Please note that Anne/Lama Rigzin and Harvey/Lama Namgyal don’t receive any of these funds as payment for their teachings; see the section below on dana.)

A word about dana

Dana is a Sanskrit and Pali word (related to our English “donate”) that connotes the virtue of generosity and giving. In traditional Buddhist cultures, monks and nuns relied solely on gifts of material support to sustain their practice of spiritual support on behalf of the entire community. In Western Buddhist groups, the concept of dana is still evolving. One useful model holds that teachers offer dharma instruction for free, out of their generous hearts, and students respond with monetary gifts from their own generosity, according to their means. Both offerings are made freely, but deeply – without expectations, and within the shared understanding of the precious relationship between teacher and student.

At Dawn Mountain, Anne and Harvey do not receive any income from fees for teachings or retreats. Their teaching and guidance here is offered freely, as volunteers. Likewise, our root teacher Ad.zom Rinpoche receives no regular income from Dawn Mountain’s operations or from the blessings he transmits to our center. Therefore we offer the opportunity to give dana to Rinpoche as well as to Anne and Harvey at the end of every retreat or significant teaching. We encourage all Dawn Mountain students to take advantage of these opportunities as part of your ongoing cultivation of generosity, one of Buddhism’s highest values. If you have any specific questions about the practice of dana, please feel free to ask Claire, MaryScott, or any senior student. Thank you very much.

Get Involved

Events

Sep06

Teaching Tuesdays – Fall 2016 ENLIGHTENED HEART: Dissolving and Evolving on the Path
First and Third Tuesdays
September 6-December 6, 2016
7:00-9:00pm
Available live and via Broadcast
The Tibetan word for enlightenment, chang-chub, contains the concepts of dissolving and evolving, the ongoing process of shedding undesired qualities and developing better ones. In this seven-part course we will delve deeper into the embodied practice...

Jan17

Teaching Tuesdays – Winter 2017 WISDOM THRU LOVE AND COMPASSION: Longchenpa's Path to Buddha Mind
First and Third Tuesdays
January 17-May 16, 2017
7:00-9:00pm
Available live and via Broadcast
We often hear that the essence of compassion is wisdom. Longchenpa also shows how boundless qualities associated with love
and compassion naturally flow into a much larger expansive view, freeing us from contraction into a divided...